Rotating index combination lock



May 8, 1934.

s. PELLE 1,957,846

ROTATING INDEX COMBINATION LOCK Filed March 26, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l jiqaiien PeZZe INVENTOR ATTORNEY May 8, 1934-. s PELLE 1,957,846

ROTATING INDEX COMBINATION LOCK Filed March 26, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I as 8 as m RPM 3 V/// A5'7V K37 v///// 10/ M37 5 P5672 PeZZe,

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///'5 ATTORNEY,

Patented May 8, 1934 This invention relates to combination locks and has for its main object to provide a lock of the type mentioned which will be very simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and

- novel in operation; another object of this invention is to provide a device as characterized hereinbefore which will be adapted to be operated by a special key or by hand without a key being in this case opened by a combination, as usual.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a hand operated lock which may be changed from such operation to key operation, as described hereinafterpof vice versa.

Still further objects of this invention will be 53 apparent as the specification of the same proceeds.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specification and accompanying the same:

Figs. 1 and 2 are partly sectional side elevation and plan, respectively, of my lock, shown on an enlarged scale as applied to a bag, the central portion of which is also shown in the figure in a fregmentary manner;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary partly sectional side elevation of the operative end of the key which may be used with this lock;

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are diagrammatical plan views of the tumblers used in my device, while Fig. '7 is a side elevation of one of such tumblers; I V

Fig. 8 is an end view of the key which may be used in connection with my lock;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail of the lock shown in Fig. 1, while,

Fig. 10 is another detail thereof shown on a still larger scale;

Figs; 11 to 13 are fragmentary sectional diagrams indicating various phasesin theopening operations of the combination members of my -device, the sections being taken on cylindrical surfaces passing about through the pins there shown and the tumblers being imagined as full disks, for the sake of clearness.

Referring now to the drawings more closely,

by characters of reference, the numeral indicates an object to which my lock is applied, in this case it being a brief case, or a school bag, having a body proper 31 with an upper wall 32 and. a closing flap 33 overlapping the top portion of said front or cover wall 32. My lock proper is housed in a casing 34 secured to the upper portion of the front wall 32, preferably inwardly thereof, as by the rivets 35.

Circular wheel shaped tumblers 36, 3'7 and 38 are placed in superimposed relation in said casing, means being provided to prevent frictional engagement between them so that they may easily rotate within said casing relative to one another without any one carrying the adjacent other one automatically with itself, and without being centrally displaced. Said means are not shown in the drawings, for the sake of simplicity and clearness, but various such means are well known in the art and may be provided by anyone skilled in the same.

I prefer to provide'said tumblers with hubs i0 and spokes 41 each stamped out of one piece of sheet metal and with a circumferential rim 42 made out of a strip of resilient metal and having a plurality of holes 43 therein. Each spoke is provided with a pin 44 at its outer end, said pins fitting into said holes 43, and the two ends 4:5 and 46 of the, strip of metal are bent inwardly and then transversely so as to form the recess indentation 4'7 in the respective portions of therim, their overlapping transverse ends being secured together, as at 48.

Each hub 40 has a hole or recess 49 provided therein, and said wheels or tumblers are made in such a manner that the smallest hole or recess 49 is provided in the lowermost thereof and said holes .or central recesses 49 are gradually increasing in' the middle and upper one of said tumblers. Upstanding pins or projections 50, 51,

and 52 are also provided in the hubs of the various tumblers, said pins being variously placed in the tumblers and on gradually increasing circles from the bottom towards the top of my lock. Acover or top plate 80 is also provided for the lock and said tumblers are closely-though rotatably confined between the side Wall 39, the top plate 80 and the bottom plate 5d of the housing, and a central cylindrical upwardly projecting key hole and guide 55 may also be arranged in said top plate 80. e When my lock is in open position, the recesses L7 in the various'tumblers are turned into positions facing a locking bolt 56, the lower enlarged end 57 of which may rest in said recesses 47, while the upper narrower portions, the bolt proper 58 thereof, may play through an appropriate hole in an extension 39a. in the upper side of the housing 34, as will be understood by those versed in this art.

A hook device or hasp 59 may be secured on the flap 33, as at 60, and projecting through an eyelet 61 in the upper part of the top wall 32 of the bag. A spring 62 is arranged between the upper part of the extension 39a of the housing 34 and the enlarged portion 57 of the bolt 56, normally tending to press the bolt 58 rearwardly into the housing 34. A key 63 may be used to open or look my device, said key preferably having a tubular body 64 and combination disks 65 threaded on a bolt 66 projecting through the closed top 67 of the tube and being secured thereon by the nuts 68 within the same. Washers 69 may be interposed between said combinaton disks, if necessary. Each key disk has an upstanding pin or projection '70, and before securing said combination disks together, as for instance, by the slotted bolt head '71 and the nuts 68, said projections 70 will be arranged according to a predetermined order corresponding to the arrangement of the projections on the hubs of the tumblers, as will be explained hereinafter.

The operation of my lock is as follows:

Normally the lock is in a closed position and the tumblers 36 to 38 are turned in such a way that their rounded circular portions are engaging the rounded inner end '72 of the enlarged bolt head 5'7, pushing the bolt proper 58 into engagement with a hook or hasp 59 and thereby locking the device. If it is now desired to open the same, key 63 will be inserted into the guide cylinder 55 and turned therein in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrows '73 in Fig. 4. The pins '70 on the key will gradually engage the pins 50 to 52 on the tumblers, since said key pins are in the same depths and on the same radii as the pins on the tumblers, and the arrangements of said tumbler pins 50 to 52 relative to the respective recesses 47 in the rims of said tumblers are such that when the three pins 50 to 52 are in a relative position to one another corresponding to the fixed relative position of the pins 70 on the key 63, then all the three recesses 47 will be in a uniform meeting position, so that when the three tumblers are turned around in such a position at a certain moment of their rotation all the three recesses 47 will be simultaneously facing the enlarged lower end 5'7 of the bolt 56 and permit the same to enter them under the infiuence of the spring 62, thereby withdrawing the bolt proper 58 from the hook or hasp 59 and unlocking the device.

When it is desired to again lock the device, all that is needed to be done is to insert the key into the lock and turn it to any desired degree in the direction of arrow 73 when the camlike left walls 470. of the recesses 47 will gradually push the bolt 57 outwardly into a locking position, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be obvious that once this device will be in a locked position, it cannot be opened except by a key having the combination thereof, while, of course, it may be locked by independently rotating any or all of the tumblers since even one of them will be adapted to push the bolt 56 out of the recesses 47.

The holes 43, in the circumferential arrangement on the tumblers 42, provide an extremely simple and easy means to change the combination of my lock. Before closing said rims, the outer pins 44 of the tumbler spokes 41 are placed into said holes in various positions and then said rims are closed.

A tool or device may be provided to measure and register the positions of the pins 50 and 52 on the tumblers in a certain lock with the recesses 4'7 opposite to the bolt 57 and the pins '70 on the key disks 75 may be set by the same templet or tool before fixing them. Should it be desired that the combination of a lock be changed, the connections 48 of the two ends of the tumblers may be opened, rims 42 removed from spokes 41 and then replaced in changed positions, engaging other holes 43. The pins 50 and 70, respectively, may be made in any suitable manner, and I prefer to stamp them out of the material of the tumblers and key disks themselves, for the sake of simplicity and to reduce the cost of manufacture.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 makes my device also adapted to be used with hand operation, a rotating combination member being provided to set the tumblers into their opening position, the change from one operation to the other being made by very simple means incor-' rotatable top which is held in place by any suitable means, in the drawings ears 81 being shown, struck out from the material of a stationarily secured ring plate 82. A central upstanding projection 83 is provided on the rotatable cover 80, the hollow cylindrical inside thereof serving as a key and guide hole 55. The outer surface of the upstanding cylinder is knurled, as at 84, to facilitate the rotation of the top disk 80 by the fingers of the operator. A down hanging pin 85 is provided at one side of the rotatable top 80 (see Fig. 9) being adapted to engage an upstanding similar pin 86 in the first tumbler 86, said tumbler again having a downwardly and inwardly projecting pin 87, at the opposite side thereof, which again is adapted to engage a pin 88 in the middle or intermediate tumbler 37, said tumbler again having a downwardly projecting pin 89 to engage an upstanding pin 90 on the lowermost tumbler 38, all said pins normally being of an identical distance from the center of the device so that they will rotate at the same circles and will be adapted to engage one another.

It will be obvious by the inspection of the drawings that upon the rotation of the top or cover disk 80 through the knurled projection 83, the same will engage, at a certain phase of its rotation, the upper or first tumbler 36, through the pins 85 and 86, and upon the further rotation of said top or index plate, the pins will gradually pick up the further tumblers, so that finally they will all rotate together. The pins 85 to 90 are indicated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, and I may remark that in the manufacture of my lock, the pins 51 to 52 will preferably be placed on the same radial line on each tumbler as the respective pins, 85 to 90 which will facilitate the setting of the lock for both, key and manual operation, and will simplify the manufacturing of the tumblers. If desired, the second series of pins, 85 to 90, may also be struck out of the material of the spokes and bent upwardly and downwardly.

Combination marks or figures 91 may be shown on the stationary securing plate 82, and corresponding markings 92 may be shown on the rotating top 80, for the sake of facilitating the setting of the device. Said markings may start from a point of zero, as at 98, and in the embodiment shown the index numbers will run from 0 to 100.

With this arrangement the lock may be opened in the usual manner like other combination locks,

the plate 80 being turned to different directions and to different index numbers, corresponding to the particular combination of the pins 85 to 90 in relation to the recesses 47 in the tumblers in the lock in question. For instance, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, when the recesses 47 in all the three tumblers will arrive to the zero marking, which is placed opposite to the bolt 56, the respective pin 86, in the first tumbler, will be at the outer stationary marking or index numeral 12; the pin 88, in the middle tumbler, at the outer index-numeral 38; and the pin 90, in the lower or third tumbler, will have to be opposite the outer marking or index numeral 63.

It is also to be noted that the pin 85 on the rotating top disk is arranged in said disk opposite to or in line with the zero marking thereof, and in order to open the lock first said pin will be brought to the point zero of the outer index scale 91, indicated by the character 93 in Fig. 2. After this the device will be rotated three times in an anti-clockwise direction, the result of which will be that all the three tumblers will be picked up one after the other and all the pins will finally be brought opposite to the zero marking 93 on the stationary scale. Thereupon the top plate 80 will be further rotated in an anticlockwise manner till its zero 93a arrives opposite the index number 63 on the outer scale. The position of the various pins in this phase of the operation is indicated in a diagrammatic manner in Fig. 11. This will carry all the pins opposite to said scale number.

Thereafter the device will be rotated twice around in a reverse, or clockwise direction and then further brought in said direction to the index marking 38. The position of the pins after said second operation, will be as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 12.

As a third and last phase of the operation to open the lock, the top disk 80 will again be rotated once around in an anti-clockwise manner and then continued until its zero will arrive to the marking 12 on the outer stationary scale 91 after which operation the position of the various pins may be indicated in a diagrammatical manner as shown in Fig. 13. The positions of the pins in said diagrammatic Figs. 11 to 13 is marked by their final index figures, against which they are set on the outer scale, being shown in circles.

It is obvious that after the last setting of the pins, they will be in positions 63, 38, and 12, and according to the presumption earlier taken, the recesses 4'7 in all the tumblers will be opposite the zero marking 93 in the stationary scale, that is, opposite the bolt 56 which now will be withdrawn under the influence of the spring 62 from the hasp 59 and the lock will be opened.

In this embodiment, therefore, the combination for the opening of the lock would be as follows: start from the zero position, make three full turns anti-clockwise, then continue to the marlnng 63; make two full rotations in the reverse direction, that is: clockwise, and continue to the marking 38; make again one rotation in anti-clockwise direction and continue to the marking 12, then the lock will be opened.

If it is desired to use the present embodiment of my lock with a key instead of hand operation, said second series of pins to will have to be put out of engagement. This operation may be executed by the mechanism shown in Fig. 9. In this embodiment, the middle tumbler 3'7 has a member inserted into one of its spokes, such member 100 carrying the pins 88 to 89 and having at its inner end a round pin 101 rotatable in recess 102 in the remaining stationary portion 37a of the respective spoke, while the outer end of said member 100 also has a round 103 rotatable in an appropriate hole in the rim 104 of the tumbler 37. A spring 105 is normally pressing said member 100 outwardly against a flat spring 106 interposed between a shoulder thereof and, the rim 104.

A rotatable drum 107 is arranged in the housing 34 opposite the said tumbler 37 having apin or shaft 108 projecting outwardly therefrom which carries an operating arm 109, and a spring 110 tends to push said drum and associated parts outwardly to a stationary limiting angular member 111. The inner end of said drum 107 carries a square projection 112 adapted to be received in a square recess 113 in the round pin 103 of member 100.

When it is desired to change my look from.

hand operation to key operation, said drum.107 will be pushed inwardly by the arm 109 until its square projection 112 will engage the square recess 113 whereupon the member 100 will be pushed inwardly until pins 88 and 89 will take up their position shown by dotted lines and will thereby be disengaged from the pins 87 and 90. The member 100 will now be turned 90 degrees until pins 88 and 89 will take up a horizontal position against their transversal position shown in the drawings, when the handle 109 will be released and the spring 105 and 110 will return the parts to their outwardly pressed positions. It will be obvious that after the hereindescribed operation, the three tumblers will be disengaged from one another and they may be operated by the key in the same manner as explained with the first method of my device without any interference by the second system of pins 85 to 90.

In case a hand operation is again desired, the same movements may be gone through once more and the pins 85 to 90 will again be engaged by one another and the device set for hand operation.

The limiting angular member 111 may have a split down hanging outer portion 111a, a square opening in which will receive the square portion 108 of the drum 107 so that it will be insured that the same will not be turned but exactly 90 degrees every time and will be kept in the right positicn by the spring action of the split member 111a.

It will be understood that changes and variations may be made in the parts and combinations of my device and I hereby reserve all my rights to any and all such changes as are within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new, is:

1. In a combination lock having rotatable tumblers one above the other and pins on each adjacent tumbler to engage one another, means to disengage the pins in the intermediate tumblers from the pins of the tumblers above and below the same.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said means including an independent member in each of said intermediate tumblers, carrying said pins and being adapted to turn said pins into a transverse position to engage the pins in the adjacent tumblers, or into a horizontal position to be disengaged therefrom.

3. In a lock of the class described, a plurality of rotatable tumblers slidable in relation to one another; a pin on each tumbler adapted to rotate said tumbler by said pin independently of the other tumblers; each tumbler having a recessed portion into which a locking bolt is normally urged, the lock being opened when the bolt is in said recesses, the individual pins of the tumblers being in such relation to the respective recesses that'the positioning of them corresponding to a predetermined order will place said recesses in registering relation, said tumblers having holes in their centers gradually increasing in diameter from the bottom to the top of the device and said pins on the tumblers being adjacent to said holes so that said pins are arranged on gradually increasing circles and successively higher posi tions.

4. In a lock of the class described, a plurality of rotatable tumblers slidable in relation to one another; a pin on each tumbler adapted to rotate said tumbler by said pin independently of the other tumblers; each tumbler having a recessed portion into which a locking bolt is normally urged, the lock being opened when the bolt is in said recesses, the individual pins of. the tumblers being in such' relation to the respective recesses that the positioning of them corresponding to a predetermined orderwill place said recesses in registering relation, said tumblers being in the form of wheels, each wheel having a hub, aplurality of spokes, and a rim, each rim being provided with a plurality of receiving means adapted to be engaged by the ends of said spokes and so to secure the rim on said spokes, said recessed portions being formed in said rims, said rim being adapted to be opened and said spokes moved into new receiving means, thereby changing the relative position of said recessed portions to the respective pins.

STEPHEN PELLE. V 

